BRIDGEWATER — At the end of a 76-degree night at TD Bank Ballpark, Brian Adams walked off the pitcher’s mound with the chills.

The winningest pitcher in the history of the Somerset Patriots kept the season alive and added to his big-game reputation by dominating the York Revolution for almost eight innings Saturday in a 7-0 victory in Game 4 of the Atlantic League Freedom Division Championship Series.

The win forced a winner-take-all Game 5 at 5 p.m. Sunday in York, Pa., and improved the Patriots’ all-time record to 9-3 when facing playoff elimination.

A crowd of 4,557 fans responded to Adams’ departure with a loud standing ovation, but the praise for his effort did not end there.

“When you talk about stepping up,” Patriots manager Sparky Lyle said, “that’s what it looks like. It was just a masterpiece.”

The 2007 Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year looked like a strike-throwing machine as he faced no more than four batters in an inning while cruising through the first seven.

“Right from the start, I knew I needed to be the aggressor and let our team put up some runs first,” he said. “That’s huge in an elimination game.”

All five hits against Adams, who threw 113 pitches and issued only one walk, were singles and only one runner reached second base in the first seven innings. He left with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth.

“That was a great feeling,” he said of the ovation. “It felt like the crowd was really into the game tonight. I had chills coming off.”

Reliever Travis Minix preserved the clean slate by retiring Ramon Castro to end the eighth and working a perfect ninth.

“He pitched outstanding,” Revolution manager Andy Etchebarren said of Adams. “I have to tip my hat to the guy. He didn’t make any bad pitches. And I don’t think we could’ve done anything about it.”

Adams, who won the division-series clincher last season, improved to 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in six career playoff starts for the Patriots. In three starts at home, he owns a 0.79 ERA.

“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t,” Adams said when asked if it served as extra motivation that he was selected as the fourth starter despite his playoff resume. “I believe in myself — and I hope everyone else does, too. I want to get the ball in every playoff game if I could.”

“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t,” Adams said when asked if it served as extra motivation that he selected as the fourth starter despite his playoff resume. “I believe in myself — and I hope everyone else does, too. I want to get the ball in every playoff game if I could.”

The established, 32-year-old veteran served as the antithesis to his counterpart.

Revolution starter Kevin Angelle, 22, spent 1 1/2 successful seasons at Single-A in the Phillies’ organization, but reportedly was released for disciplinary reasons.

The left-hander, who went winless in four regular-season starts after being acquired Sept. 3, allowed four runs on four hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings.

The Patriots made the most of two hits, including a bunt single, in the third inning.

Iggy Suarez drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second when Elliott Ayala’s sacrifice bunt found a hole on the right side of the infield. Wayne Lydon, who stranded the tying run in scoring position while making the final out of Game 3, broke the scoreless tie with an RBI double down the left-field line.

“You can’t control a lot of things in this game,” Lydon said. “Thank god I got the ball over his (Castro’s) head and it hit inside the line.”

Angelle uncorked a run-scoring wild pitch and Jeff Nettles added a sacrifice fly as the lead expanded to 3-0.

Joe Burke jumped on the first pitch of his at-bat in the fifth inning and crushed a solo home run off the video screen on top of the right-field scoreboard. It was just Burke’s third hit in 26 playoff at-bats dating back to 2008, and it resulted in a call to the bullpen.

The Patriots scored three runs in the seventh against Ryan Basner, a member of their 2009 championship team.

“The attitude I feel around here is we’ve got to cut it loose,” Lydon said. “We’re a confident group. I know I’ve been blessed this season — a lot of us have. I feel like we have a reckless confidence.”